Reviews

Fabric is okay, customer service is good, actual fit…

Fabric is okay, customer service is good, actual fit and design is mediocre.

Pros

Good windproof fabric

Dealing with customer service to fix problems was pleasant

Cons

The design is fundamentally poorly thought out

The initially fit was shockingly off

Note: I don't have the Steel Shock pants, but the Mojave. My comments here are relevant anyway as they deal more with design and fitting.

Fitting:

I had someone measure me up carefully as per the instructions on the Beyond website and ended up with a pair of pants that were incredibly off. The cuff was close to two inches above my ankles, the hips were too tight despite me already building in buffer room to this measurement, the crotch was uncomfortably high, and the top waist area was shaped unlike any other pair of pants (jeans or technical clothing) that I have ever owned (they flared out from my waist). Simply put, the pants that I received seemed to have been built built for another person- there was not a single part that of the pants that fit.

Design:

I usually wear Arc'teryx or Royal Robbins pants, so I use these for a baseline. The Beyond pants are okay, but not as well thought out. The zippered pockets are too small to fit my hands in properly, so if I am hiking on a cold day, I can't keep my hands in these pockets as some skin remains exposed. The pockets are good for putting in very small items, but not hands and nothing even vaguely bulky. With my other pants I can comfortably carry a wallet, smartphone or a multitool, but not with the Beyond pants which I don't really use at all.

When the hip pockets are zipped closed, this causes the pants to become less flexible around the hips, which makes them uncomfortable to sit down in. So I keep the zips open.

I contacted Customer Service and they were on the case very quickly and professionally. I sent the pants back, along with an old pair that fit, and the second attempt was close enough in line for me to keep, though I still had to take the pants to a tailor make minor changes.

Overall, these pants fit less well even after a rework than an off the shelf pair, and the design features are slightly below industry standard. On the positive side, customer service was very professional.